title: The SseC translocon component in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium is chaperoned by SscA.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Salmonella enterica is a causative agent of foodborne gastroenteritis and the systemic disease known as typhoid fever. This bacterium uses two type three secretion systems (T3SSs) to translocate protein effectors into host cells to manipulate cellular function. Salmonella pathogenicity island (SPI)-2 encodes a T3SS required for intracellular survival of the pathogen. Genes in SPI-2 include apparatus components, secreted effectors and chaperones that bind to secreted cargo to coordinate their release from the bacterial cell. Although the effector repertoire secreted by the SPI-2 T3SS is large, only three virulence-associated chaperones have been characterized.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Here we report that SscA is the chaperone for the SseC translocon component. We show that SscA and SseC interact in bacterial cells and that deletion of sscA results in a loss of SseC secretion, which compromises intracellular replication and leads to a loss of competitive fitness in mice.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This work completes the characterization of the chaperone complement within SPI-2 and identifies SscA as the chaperone for the SseC translocon.
authors.affiliation: Michael G, DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, Hamilton, Ontario L8N 3Z5, Canada. coombes@mcmaster.ca.
authors.forename: Colin A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: David T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Mulder
authors.forename: Sarah E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Allison
authors.forename: Ana Victoria C
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Pilar
authors.forename: Brian K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Coombes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D017353:Gene Deletion; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018832:Molecular Chaperones / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011485:Protein Binding; D025941:Protein Interaction Mapping; D012481:Salmonella Infections, Animal / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D018832:Molecular Chaperones; C502375:SseC protein, Salmonella typhimurium